Miss Groupie Supreme
by Silver Sailor Ganymede
Summary: AU. HarukaMinako. Minako is an idol, Haruka a racer. At first Haruka hates Minako, but what happens to eventually change all that? [For Amnesia Nymph]
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

**_(A.N: For _AmnesiaNymph_. Here's your early Christmas present, Haruka!)_**

_**(A.N2: One word: Blondie. I was listening to the Blondie song 'Rip her to shreds' when I got the idea for this, so some of the ideas are from the lyrics of that. Yes I like old punk music… ehehe ah well XD.)**_

Miss Groupie Supreme  
By Silver Sailor Ganymede

Chapter one

At first glance Juuban Highschool would have appeared to be just another normal school. It had the same run-down yet sterile look that all government-run buildings inevitabley posess, and there was nothing at all to indicate it was any different from any other school in the area.

When one saw the paparazzi gathered in huddles like penguins outside the building almost every day, however, you would probably have been inclined to wonder about what the hell was going on in there. After all, why would the media have any interest in a state-run highschool? The answer was simple; Juuban high was full of celebrities. In fact there were so many teen idols there that the school had earned itself the nickname 'highschool for the stars.'

Upon seeing the school most would wonder why celebrities were so attracted to Juuban. Indeed some of the students wondered this too, though most were more than happy to be sharing a classroom with some of the most famous teenagers in Japan. Not everyone was so exstatic about this though, namely the idols themselves, and especially one Ten'oh Haruka.

Ten'oh Haruka was in her first year at Juuban, but already everyone knew her, and everyone admired her… well almost everyone. She knew that she was a constant aggrivation to her teachers, but frankly Haruka couldn't have cared less; after all, what did grades matter to her? She was a formula one racer, what use was a passing grade in maths to her? Nothing that's what, hence the fact that her classwork hardly ever got done and her homework even less so; oh well, at least she had an excuse for that.

No matter how poor her grades were and no matter how much most of the teachers seemed to hate her, Haruka was adored by pretty much the enitre student population of the school… and by that she wasn't exaggerating. She constantly found herself being hit on by members of both the same and the opposite sex, not that this bothered her, and indeed this was probably in part because she was thought to be a 'he' by most people. Androgyny, she supposed, was her strongpoint, albeit that her insistance on wearing the boy's uniform was another thing that made her far from her teacher's favourite student.

Having heard all of this, most would assume that Haruka would be glad that there were other celebrities in her class and that the attention was drawn away from her at times. In fact there were two other idols in her class, the first of which was Tomoe Hotaru, a petite girl with black hair and startling eyes like embedded amethysts. Haruka honestly found the girl somewhat attreactive, albeit that she always looked somewhat vampire-like, something that was accentuated by the Lolita get-ups she always seemed to wear when performing. Talking of Lolita most of Hotaru's fans probably had lolita-complexes, she mused, because Hotaru, despite being the same age as Haruka herself, only looked about twelve at the oldest.

Haruka didn't particularly mind Hotaru, but as for the second idol in her class… well that was a different story. In fact it was about as different a story as it was possible to get.

Aino Minako was relatively new to the idol scene, but was the type of prima donna who seemed to have been born with a silver spoon in her mouth and a microphone in her hand. She was the typical voluptuous blonde that girls envied and guys just wanted to sleep with – and indeed sometimes the other way around as well. She was hardly taller than Hotaru but had the figure of the goddess Venus, which, Haruka rmeinded herself sometimes, was why Minako's fans had nicknamed her after the Roman love goddess.

At first glance Minako would have appeared to be the perfect girl, but sadly she had not only wonderous beauty but the complete and utter stupidity that sterotypically seemed to go with it. Minako, Haruka had decided, brought the phrase 'dumb blonde' to a whole new level, though she tried not to call the other girl a 'dumb blonde' as she herself had sandy blonde hair. Add to this the fact that the girl had a total inability to handle alcohol, as Haruka had found out at her own expense a few months beforehand…

As well as the ditzyness that Haruka detested, Minako also seemed to be on a completely different planet to everyone else. Haruka wasn't sure whether this had only set in since the small girl had become famous or whether she had just been born on Venus rather than Earth. You see for an idol Minako had an astonishing lack of modern fashion sense. She would often be found teaming modern styles with retro ones in the most bizzare way possible, and even worse than that she would wear make-up that would have looked strange on an alien let alone on the golden haired girl.

An example of Minako's outlandinsh dress sense caught Haruka's eye that day as soon as the girl strode into class, singing a song that was blaring from the MP3-player she was listening to, seemingly with no regard for the fact that they had been banned in school. Still if Minako's disregard for the school's rules about music was obvious, what was even more obvious was Minako's decision that the school's uniform regulations, and indeed its uniform didn't apply to her.

Haruka couldn't say that she was entirely surprised by the fact that the girl had appeared in class wearing a green mini-skirt, green shirt, red jacket and red cowboy boots as well as her trademark red bow. Perhaps even more shocking than her garish outfit though was her make-up, which that day consisted of blood-red eyeshadow and lime-green mascara. All in all Haruka decided that Minako looked like a Jolin Tsai video with the colouring completely messed up.

Needless to say the teacher noticed Minako's crime-against-fashion-appereal as quickly as Haruka had, and the blonde was quickly sent from the classroom to the principal's office, accompanied by a lecture that consisted of something along the lines of 'if you're going to turn up to school just before lunch then why bother coming in at all?' It was just another standerd morning where Aino Minako was concerned then.

Still, Haruka mused, the one good thing about having Minako in your class was that it made lessons a little less boring than they were otherwise. She could feel herself dropping off to sleep where she sat: why did this class have to be so boring? In fact she couldn't even remember what class she was in, but she speculated that it was probably literature; she hated that class more than she hated wearing girl's clothes, and that was saying a hell of a lot.

"Ten'oh, wake up!" the teacher's voice reached her ears, but she couldn't be bothered to move. Gods why couldn't she just go to sleep now and wake up whenever her next race was? This was torture in its most vile form. Why couldn't they just let her go free?

And there it was, her saviour: the lunch bell had sung its heavenly chimes and shown that Hell had been supressed once again. Class was over!

Haruka made to dash away when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned round, angry at her escape being delayed, and this anger grew even worse when she realised just whom it was that had hindered her: Kou Seiya, the fourth and final celebrity in their class, whom she hadn't bothered to think about beforehand because he was such a stuck-up, arrogant, coneceited prat who had only got anywhere because his father owned one of Japan's largest record companies.

Kou Seiya was taller Haruka, which was quite rare even for the boys in their class considering how tall she was. This was one thing she didn't like about him; he was looking down on her literally as well as figuratively. God she hated him, those dark eyes of his. And that long black ponytail, she just wanted to cut it off: he looked more like a girl than she did, the twat.

"What do you want now?" Haruka growled, showing the boy that she wasn't interested in whatever he had to say.

"Oh I just wanted to congratulate you on how well you did in your last race," Seiya replied and Haruka felt herself growing pissed off with him immideately. She had done particularly badly in that race, what was he going to say next? She didn't have to wait long until he spoke again. "It just proves it, doesn't it?"

"Just proves what?" Haruka asked, not really wanting to know what he had to say.

"That girls like you should stick to lip-sincing," he replied. "I mean come on, where would women get anyway, none of you have real talent, especially not in sports."

Haruka was tempted to ask Seiya what he, as a 'singer', would know about sports, but he had annoyed her too much for that. There was only one answer to what he had said…

"Are you hungry, Kou?" she asked as nicely as she could.

"Why? Going to buy me lunch as a way of acknowledging how much more talented I am than you?" he dralwed. "Or are you sorry for seducing that bitch and breaking my brother's heart by doing so? Then again Yaten deserves better than her, you can take her; you're just as bad as each other."

At the mention of that incident, Haruka decided she wasn't going to wait any longer; she quickly punched the boy in the face, sending him sprawling to the floor, clutching his now broken nose.

"There you are, Kou: knuckle sandwich for you," she smirked.

"You _bitch_," Seiya hissed as he stood up.

Haruka just walked off, a smug look on her face; he had been asking for that for such a long time, the male chauvenistic pig. At least Haruka started to walk off then another voice called her.

"_Ten'oh_!"

Oh dear… maybe socking Seiya in front of the teacher hadn't been the smartest thing she could have done in that situation.

* * *

Haruka had long ago come to the conclusion that the only place worse than world history class was the principal's office, or waiting outside of it to receive a lecture that would inevitabley be even worse than the previous hundred you'd received. The principal of Juuban High was an old fogey with no sense of what 'now' was: he lived about six hundred years or so in the past, Haruka was certain of that.

That was why Haruka hated being outside the principal's office in lesson times. Standing there during what _should _have been her time to be eating lunch though… well that just didn't bear thinking about. It was like all the demons in Hell were conspiring against her for some reason. All she'd done was give that prick what he deserved, so why was she having to stand out there and wait for what was probably going to be one of the biggest bollockings of her life?

And as if things couldn't have been any worse, which Haruka would previously have thought to be the case, she found herself standing outside the principal's office during what should have been her lunch break with none other than her dear friend Aino Minako beside her while Kou-suck-up-Seiya got away with everything. Next time she was going to put him in a coma, she really was; he was a git, he deserved every bit of what he got after all.

She sighed and leant back against the wall, taking time to once again observe the chronically dumb blonde beside her. Minako was leisurely chewing bubblegum while curling her amazingly non-peroxide-blonde hair round one of her fingers. It was then that the smaller girl turned to face her and Haruka realised just how horrific the clash between Minako's eyes and her make-up really was. She had lovely eyes, Haruka was shocked when she thought that but Minako really _did_. Her eyes weren't astonishing to the eye of the beholder like Tomoe Hotaru's, but they were unusual in their hue, like sapphires, no, paler than that, opals. But weren't opals supposed to bring bad luck or something? If so then they were even more fitting for the girl. She'd brought nothing but bad luck to Haruka so far after all…

"Oh, I didn't notice you here, 'Ruka-kun," Minako smiled, still with those strange eyes of her's fixed on Haruka, who was infuriated somewhat by the girl's informality towards her.

Why did Minako always look so vancant? Why _was _she always so vacant? There was something about her expression that Haruka had seen somewhere before, but where? Then it hit her and she just had to say it to Minako.

"You're on drugs, aren't you?" Haruka asked, yawning in boredom as she did so.

Minako blinked and turned to her, "You're talking to me, 'Ruka-kun?"

"No I'm talking to the invisible girl behind you," Haruka rolled her eyes. "Of course I am you moron."

"Oh," Minako replied. "No, I'm not on drugs. Why do you ask, looking for a dealer or something, Ten'oh?"

Haruka groaned; if anything Minako's reply made her think her previous speculation had been right. No one could be that spacey if they weren't on anything, could they? And then Minako had the nerve to ask her if she was looking for a goddamned drug dealer? That girl could not be real, she realy couldn't!

"So why are you here?" Minako asked, blowing and popping a bubble of gum.

"None of your business," Haruka snapped. "No prizes for guessing why you're here; you got sent out for violations of the school's uniform code for about the fify sixth time this month."

Minako raised an eyebrow, "I can't have been sent here that many times already this month."

Haruka gave her a look of complete disbelief, "Please tell me you know exaggeration when you see it."

Minako blinked, "Oh, oh yeah! Oops."

"Anyways, Aino," Haruka began but Minako interrupted her.

"Call me Minako."

"Fine, Minako, why the heck are you wearing red and green to school?" she asked, mentally adding 'and what the Hell is up with the horrific make-up?'

"I just wanted to," Minako replied. "I was only late because I overslept. Oops, forget I said that."

Haruka rolled her eyes, "And there was me thinking you were trying to dress up as a Christmas tree."

"What?" Minako asked, frowning in confusion.

"I thought you were trying to get yourself mistaken for a Christmas tree, seeing as it's nearly Christmas and all," Haruka replied, smirking.  
"Maybe you should come in wearing tinsle tomorrow."

"Now there's a thought," Minako mused and Haruka almost fell over in shock. That girl really was oblivious to just about everything,  
wasn't she? "Anyway why are you here, 'Ruka-chan, you still haven't told me."

"Kou Seiya was being a prat so I decked him," Haruka replied. "No more than he deserved if you ask me."

"I like Seiya," Minako replied, "He's pretty cute. Not as cute as you though, 'Ruka-kun."

Haruka wanted to be sick when she heared that. Being compared to Seiya was never a good thing, even when she did come out on top. Luckily she wasn't forced to listen to any more of Minako's banter as the girl was called into the principal's office, leaving her to wait and waste away what should have been her lunch break.

* * *

Haruka wanted to kill something. This day had quite possibly been the worst day she had ever had to put up with, ever, and that was saying a lot. She hated school, she hated Seiya and she hated Minako, but even more than that she hated whoever had decided to change their seating plan according to their latest exam results.

She turned to the blonde girl next to her, who was wittering away completely oblivious to Haruka's boredom and irritation. Whoever had said that she was going to be sitting next to Aino Minako until the end of the school year was going to die a slow, horrible and immensly painful death she decided. Yes, a_ very_ slow, horrible and painful death.

Haruka groaned and decided that she was going to listen to Minako prattle on at least until the bell rang at the end of the day. Double world history, could she kill someone? Please? All she wanted to do was disembowel someone… or maybe she would cut her own ears off so she couldn't hear. Gods alive, Higashi-sensei's lessons were so boring she would rather have gouged her own eyes out with a rusty compus than sit through them.

"You know most people wouldn't believe this but I really love all kinds of sports," Minako said, catching Haruka's attention. Maybe they had something in common after all. "You know formula one racing, right? Of course you do, you're a driver! You know I love watching you race, 'Ruka-kun; you really know what you're doing."

"Thanks I guess," Haruka shrugged, mildly surprised by the fact that the blonde girl watched racing at all.

"Hey, 'Ruka-kun, can I have your autograph? I gotta say I'm a pretty big fan of yours," Minako grinned, her question catching the other girl by surprise.

"Sure, I guess," Haruka shrugged, signing a piece of scrap paper and shoving it into Minako's hand. Yep this was much more interesting than class would have been if she were attempting to pay attention to it. After listening to Minako talk incessently for a few more minutes, Haruka had come to a conclusion about Minako, a conclusion she didn't like much at all.

"You sound like a groupie, Aino," she sighed.

"It's Minako, I told you earlier," Minako replied. Then she blinked and a frown appeared on her face. "What?"

"You heard me, Miss Groupie Supreme," Haruka yawned.

"TAKE THAT BACK!" Minako suddenly yelled, causing Haruka to flinch away. Man that girl had one hell of a loud voice on her…

"Aino, I would appreciate it if you would shut up and pay attention," Higashi-sensei shouted from the front of the class. "And Ten'oh, stop flirting with Aino; I know she's pretty but that sort of behaviour is innaproriate for class."

Minako flushed and Haruka glared at the teacher: that bastard, how dare he assume… Right, she was having a bad day, a very bad day, and someone was going to get hurt. Well she supposed this day could get worse in one way… and then Higashi-sensei announced that they did indeed have homework.

Yep, now she was in such a bad mood that she'd kill god or the devil or whatever if they annoyed her. Or maybe she'd just sucker-punch Kou Seiya again. Yes, that was a much better idea.


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter two

Aino Minako had always wanted to be famous. She had always wanted to see her name up in lights, her face on every television screen and have people know just how talented she was. She had never thought that she wouldn't have to work to get where she was, she would have been an idiot to think that, but there was one thing she had never anticipated and that was the meetings she had to endure so much of the time.

Minako had not been expecting to be called into a meeting as soon as she arrived in work that day, and had it been just a general meeting with her manager then she would have made her excuses to get out of it. This time her excuses weren't going to work though, and that was because said meeting had been called by none other than Chiba Mamoru, who was effictively in charge of the entire section of the company she worked at.

Minako had never really liked Mamoru; there was just something about him that honestly gave her the creeps. Perhaps it was that he really did have a complete lolicon, hence the fact that Hotaru refused to go anywhere near him without someone else present. Of course no one believed that the perfect Chiba Mamoru would ever make a move on am underage girl, so nothing was ever done about him.

Minako sighed; any other girl would probably have begged Mamoru to hit on them, but Hotaru had never been interested in guys. As for Minako herself, well men like Mamoru just didn't do anything for her. She wouldn't have minded going after someone like that actor, Shinma Kunzite, but rumours were that he was in a relationship with someone already so she guessed he was off limits. In fact she would have prefered Ten'oh Haruka to a git like Mamoru, no matter how much the other girl seemed to her. Yes Minako knew that Haruka was a girl, but since when had that mattered to her? Not that she could afford to let the public know anything about that though.

Minako was rather surprised to realise that she had already arrived outside Mamoru's office. She pushed open the door and stepped inside, where she was met by Mamoru's charming yet rather unnerving smile, as always.

"You're on time for once, Mina-chan," Mamoru noted and Minako felt herself flushing with irritation at the nickname. The only thing worse than having Mamoru call her 'Mina-chan' was having Haruka call her 'Little Miss Groupie' or whatever the heck it was she'd said. Thank god Mamoru would think she was blushing out of attraction to him; she'd heard he could be very vicious if he thought otherwise.

"Sit down," Mamoru said and Minako complied, taking a seat and making herself look comfertable there, though she was never too relaxed in the older man's presence; she just didn't trust him at all.

"What did you want to see me about, Chiba-san?" Minako asked.

"It's with regards to your forthcoming album," Mamrou replied. "First of all we really need to clear up your image, make your public image match with the way you look in photo shoots."

Minako mentally groaned. Okay so maybe her green and red makeup and outfit wasn't exactly idol material, and maybe Ten'oh was right and she did look somewhat over-the-top Christmassy and was out to get herself mistaken for a Christmas tree, but so what? If she wanted to dress like some seventies retro reject then she would, who honestly gave a damn about other people's opinions?

Then again this was Chiba Mamoru, and if she didn't do exactly as he and the stylists said when it came to her image then she was putting her whole career on the line. In fact that was the one thing she hated about being an idol; everything was so false! In fact sometimes she even ended up wearing her faux persona outside of work. Like in school, she really wasn't as much of a ditz as she made herself appear to be. Maybe she should try wearing her real persona around Haruka, she mused; perhaps she wouldn't annoy her so much then. Yes, that's what she'd do…

"Mina-chan, are you listening?" Mamoru asked, making Minako start slightly.

"Oh, sorry, I just drfited off slightly," Minako replied.

Mamoru sighed and repeated what he had just said, "I was just making a few suggestions as to what we could do with regards to how to promote your new album. Your popularity levels are still high, but they're rather lower than they have been beforehand; it has something to do with Mars Reiko, who, as you know, is employed by one of our rival companies. However we do have ways to promote you and your image before your album is released. All publicity is good publicity in the end after all."

Minako frowned, "What do you mean?" she asked, and this time the look on her face had nothing to do with a feigned confusion.

"I mean that you have to do something to stop yourself from being just another throwaway idol; you have to spark off rumours, give the media fuel for its fire."

Minako began to get worried as the smirk on Mamoru's face took on a rather sadistic edge, but she asked the next question regardless.

"What exactly do you have in mind, Chiba-san?"

"I mean you need to spark a scandal to draw the media's attention to you, and I know exactly what, or rather whom you should use," he replied.

"But you're usually trying to avoid scandals with people like me," Minako frowned.

"Desparate times call for desparate measures," Mamoru replied. He picked up a picture from his desk and handed it to Minako. "I have no doubt you know who this is."

Minako looked at the picutre than back at Mamoru, "Of course I know who this is, but why?"

"It's necessary," Mamoru replied. "When you're doing this badly compared to your rivals then you have to risk it all, put it all on the line."

"But what about their career?" Minako asked. "What's this person ever done to us?"

"It was just an obvious choice," Mamoru replied. "And you don't have a choice in the matter, Minako. You have to try to seduce Ten'oh Haruka."

* * *

No matter how much Haruka loved her job, the training that went with it could be a pain in the neck sometimes, in both a metaphorical and a literal sense. She stepped into her changing room then stopped when she realised that there was someone else in there. Aino Minako was leaning against the far wall, a smirk on her pretty little face. Haruka noticed that she'd dropped the red and green in favour for an equally hideous orange and pink. Both colours suited the girl, Haruka had to admit, but the clash caused by the two together was rather nauseaous.

Minako batted her eyes at Haruka and licked her lips, causing the tall blonde to roll her eyes.

"What are you doing here, Minako?" Haruka asked. "Shouldn't you be out shooting a video or something?"

"I finished earlier," Minako smiled, still with that oddly sultry air about her. "And you seemed to have finished now too? How about we go out somewhere, if you're free that is?"

Haruka give her a look of complete shock; did Minako really have the audacity to turn up unnanounced then ask her out on a date? If so then she really was as bad a slut as the media made her out to be. Haruka never would have believed this – the media's portrayal of people was almost never right, except, it seemed, on this occasion.

"Actually I _am _busy, at least when it comes to groupies like you," Haruka snapped. "Contrary to what the media says; I don't exactly fuck every girl that begs me. Now get lost."

Minako pouted and stood in front of Haruka, winding her arms around the taller girl's shoulders and pulling her towards her.

"Now come on, 'Ruka-chan," she said sweetly. "I'm not a _groupie_, you _know _that. After all I know groupies just as well as you do, if not more so. Besides, I never make a move on someone I'm not serious about, do I?"

"Which of course explains the whole affair with Kou Yaten a few months back," Haruka shot back, causing Minako to frown.

"I was drunk."

"How do I know you're not drunk now?" Haruka sighed. "Because you're acting it."

"Don't be silly, 'Ruka-chan," Minako purred. "I'm perfectly sober."

She leaned in closer to Haruka, who pushed her away with a bit more force than originally intended, throwing the girl to the floor with tears welling in her eyes.

"What do you think you're doing?" Haruka hissed. "Look, Aino, I don't know whether you've realised this or not, but I'm not a guy no matter how much I look like one. You probably didn't know that when you kissed me the first time, that whole mess with Kou Yaten and all that, but guess what: I'm female, Minako."

"I realised that," Minako whispered.

"What?" Haruka gasped, completely taken aback by this.

"I told you I already realised you're a girl," Minako said, her voice beccomming shrill. "I know you're female, I know exactly who you are under that goddamned façade! And don't bring up that, just don't. Yes I admit I was drunk when I did that… but I love you,  
Haruka. I love _you_…"

Haruka stared at the girl in front of her and shook her head.

"Get out," she snarled, "_Get out_!"

Minako stood up, shaking as she did so, and left the room as she had been commanded to do, but not before Haruka saw that tears were falling down her face, and there was no doubt in her mind then that those tears were indeed real.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter three

Minako stared out of the window of her apartment to the views of Tokyo sprawling out below her like a dreary grey nightmare. The metropolis was never ceasing, people and cars milling around like dying ants on the ground far below her.

The grey weather and the grey city matched her rather grey mood. She hated the way she was at the moment, hated the way she was playing right into Mamrou's scheme, whatever that may have been. Why did she have to do this? Why did she have to follow Mamoru's plan? Why did she have to hurt Haruka in such a way? She loved the other girl, didn't she? She did, of course she did, but… Gods why was she so confused?!

If she really loved Haruka she would have told her without all this attempted seduction. She would have just confessed her feelings with sincerety, told the girl from her heart as a whole rather than partially through this whorish façade.

But it wasn't all because of Mamoru, was it? In actuality all Mamoru had done was give her a prompt to go ahead with what she would have done anyway. The only difference was that, had she been left to her own devices she would have gone about it in a more appropraite way, if indeed there was such thing as an appropriate way to do things where Ten'oh Haruka was concerned.

She really did have feelings for Haruka, Minako told herself, so why did she feel the need to do this? Why did she feel the need to only show Haruka the mask she put on for everyone else? Why did she act in the way that Mamoru and the others had conditioned her to?

Or did she really love Haruka? Did she just want to hurt the other girl? Were her feelings just as fake and synthesised by circumstance as the rest of her? Why, why, why?

She turned and punched the wall, falling to the floor then staring up at the ceiling in despair. What was going on with her? Why was everything so confusing? This was one of those times that she just wished she was a normal girl, but that could never happen, and nor could she confess to anyone what was actually happening; she'd be throwing away any chance she had in life.

Minako started, shocked as she heard a tapping at the door. Maybe she was just hearing things, but no, there it was again. She stood up trying to make herself look normal and putting a false smile on her face again. She was growing deadly sick of this act, but sadly it had to be kept up for her to retain her fame.

There was knocking on the door again just as Minako opened it, and she was glad to be able to let her act slip as soon as she saw whom it was that had come to see her. Tomoe Hotaru stood at the door, decked out in her usual Victorian-style dress and heavy black and ghostly white makeup.

"Hello, Minako-chan, may I come in?" Hotaru asked, and Minako quickly stepped aside to allow the girl into her appartment.

"Hotaru-chan, what are you doing here?" Minako asked as they stepped into her living room and sat down. Had it been anyone else that had called on her then Minako would have felt rather on-edge, but she was fine with Hotaru visiting. In fact she was somewhat glad of it; she had known Hotaru since junior high, before either of them had become famous, and could not think of a better person to talk to at a time like this.

"I came to see how you were," Hotaru replied. "You seemed rather down when I was talking to you yesterday, I was wondering what's up."

Minako sighed; she couldn't tell Hotaru exactly what was going on, she'd just incriminate herself if she did that. Instead she resigned just to get part of it off her chest. By saying that she wouldn't be making herself out to be the complete bitch she knew she was being, and she'd also be putting Hotaru on her side instead of Haruka's for a while if the whole situation were to get any worse, which she honestly hoped it wouldn't.

"It's Haruka," Minako sighed, dropping her head into her hands.

"What?" Hotaru frowned. "Haruka as in Ten'oh Haruka?" Minako nodded silently. "What about her?"

"I told her," Minako whispered.

"Told her what?" Hotaru asked. "Minako, are you crying?" There was no response. "Minako… hang on a minute. No, you didn't…"

"I did," came the barely audible reply. "You _know _I like her, Hotaru, and a couple of days ago I just came out and told her. I shouldn't have ever kissed her in the first place, that whole thing with her at Yaten's a while ago was just a disaster in itself, and now I've got that behind me I go and do _this_. How could I have been so stupid?! Now she hates me, she absolutely hates me, and its all my own goddamn fault!"

She was sobbing hopelessly by then and all Hotaru could do was hold her close to stop her crying.

"Minako-chan, she doesn't hate you."

"Yes she does," Minako choked out. "She told me as much when I… but I… and yesterday she just…" she couldn't speak any more.

"Minako, calm down," Hotaru whispered. "Please calm down. Everything is going to be okay. She doesn't hate you, Minako; she's probably just as confused as you are, that's all."

The two sat in silence for a while until Minako finally cried herself to sleep in her friend's arms.

* * *

Minako couldn't remember having ever dreaded going to school as much as she did that day. She supposed that this must be what children who were being bullied felt like, completely terrified to go to school because they knew that there was someone there who absolutely hated them. Except in her case it was her own blasted fault…

Her blue and purple makeup, far less garish than her usual attire, was a clear sign of the mood she was in, though only to those that actually knew her. She truged slowly into class and sat down at her desk waiting for her peers to arrive.

One of the first to show up was Kou Seiya, somoene to whom Minako would have avoided talking at the best of times after the whole situation with his brother, Yaten, a few months beforehand. If anything that proved that she shouldn't drink at all, especially not when she was around Haruka. In fact now she thought about it, maybe that whole affair had something to do with why Haruka hated her so much.

"Morning, Minako," Seiya said, taking his seat, which was, sadly, the one directly behind Haruka's and thus extremely near her. "You look rather down, past catching up with you? I can tell that someone has rejected you; it's the only thing that bothers girls like you. Was it Ten'oh? If so it serves you right after what you did to my brother. You broke his heart, Minako, you realise that, don't you?"

On most days Minako would have attempted to ignore him, but after everything that had happened a few days beforehand she wasn't even going to consider it.

"Why don't you just shut up?" she yelled, standing up and startling her classmates, msot of whom had arrived by that time. "Do you think I _want _to be reminded about that by _you _of all people when I'm under so much stress? I've _had _it with you, Kou, I really have, now just leave me the Hell alone!"

She took a deep breath as a hand was placed on her shoulder and Hotaru appeared beside her.

"Calm down, Minako-chan," Hotaru said quietly. "He's not worth it, you know that, so just ignore him."

Minako nodded, sitting down again and waiting silently for class to begin. At first she hoped that Haruka wouldn't be in; she really didn't want to talk to the other girl, she was too ashamed of what she had to do. On the other hand she wanted to talk to Haruka, to get her feelings off her chest in all honesty.

When the girl finally did arrive, she blacked out Minako completely when she tried to speak, not even acknowledging her. Minako thought that it would have been better if the other girl had just slapped her; it would have hurt less, she was sure of that.

It seemed like an eon later that the bell finally rang for their first break, and when it did Minako hurried away, not wanting to even try to talk to Haruka.

Haruka, on the other hand, didn't really care about whether she was hurting the smaller girl or not. Minako couldn't have possibly been serious, could she? After all, it was Minako and she was never serious about anything, was she?

"Haruka, I need to talk to you," Hotaru spoke, her dangerously quiet voice catching Haruka by surprise and stopping her as she left the classroom.

"What about?" Haruka asked, wondering why the girl looked so annoyed. Hotaru never got annoyed about anything; she was like a doll, she didn't show emotions, and it she did it was only in extreme situations. Why was she acting like this now?

Haruka knew Hotaru pretty well seeing as they'd been in the same class all year and in third year of junior high. The girl was a friend of hers, not a close friend but a friend nevertheless, but she had never seen this side to her before.

"Come with me, we need to talk in private," Hotaru replied, grabbing Haruka by the wrist and effectively pulling her down the corridor and out into the grounds.

"Why are we back here?" Haruka asked upon realising that they were in an out-of-bounds area of the school.

"I said we needed to talk in private, didn't I?"

Haruka had come to the conclusion by then that she had never heard the doll-like girl talk so much. What was happening that had made her so serious, and what did it have to do with her?

"Okay, what is it, 'Taru?" Haruka asked.

"It's about Minako," Hotaru replied and Haruka mentally groaned. What was it with the girl? Now she'd even got Hotaru in on this, was she just out to make her life a misery?

"What about her?" Haruka made sure Hotaru knew that she was completely disintered in this.

"Is it possible for you to stop being so cold?" Hotaru snapped, the tone in her voice surprising Haruka. "Minako's being serious, she really is!"

"What?" Haruka laughed. "It's Aino Minako, she doesn't know what it means to be serious about someone. She just likes breaking people's hearts."

"Look I know she's got a bit of a reputation and I _know _she should never have done that to Yaten, but by acting like this you're showing that you're just as bad as she is. You have just as little regard for other people's emotions as she does at times," Hotaru explained. "She loves you, Haruka, she really does, but you're just too blind to see it. I'll give you some time to clear your head; hopefully you'll do the right thing."

With that Hotaru walked away, leaving Haruka shocked. She had never even considered that the other girl was even remotely serious. She couldn't be, could she? It was Minako. But if Hotaru was saying that… And Minako really was a complete mess, wasn't she?

Minako was a mess, and this time it was all her fault.

* * *

Minako stirred her icecream around in the bowl over and over again while she waited for Hotaru to arrive. Normally she wouldn't have had time for something like this but she had convinced her manager to let her have some free time. Hotaru hadn't turned up yet but that didn't really matter that much; it was giving Minako time to clear her thoughts after all.

Minako looked up, ignoring the whispers of people around her, and was somewhat glad to see that Hotaru had finally turned up. The violet-eyed girl sat down opposite her, and Minako noticed that whatever muttering there may have been in the background, it had intensified tenfold now that Hotaru had appeared. After all, who would have expected Aino Minako and Tomoe Hotaru of all people to be meeting outside hours like old friends? In fact as far as the public were concerned the two had never met.

"How are you?" Hotaru asked and Minako just shrugged. If anything she felt even worse than she had before; Haruka had disappeared after breaktime and Minako wondered if it was something she had done to further annoy her. Of course she didn't say any of this to Hotaru; she didn't want to worry the girl any more than she already had, so she just nondded in response to Hotaru's question.

"Don't lie to me, Minako," Hotaru sighed, "I know you're upset, I would be too. Anyway I think it'll be better soon; I talked to Haruka for you. That's why she skived off half-way through school; she probably just went to cool her head off."

"Thanks, Hotaru," Minako replied and quickly steered their conversation to smalltalk. She may have been smiling on the outside, but inside she was hurting even worse than she had been before.


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter four

Most people would have wondered if they were seeing things upon seeing Ten'oh Haruka enter the building of Japan's most succesful record company, for what connection did the sports star have with Japan's music industry? The answer would not have been one that many would have expected, as Haruka actually had almost been forced into music when she was younger by realtives of her's even though she had no interest in it, but that wasn't really very important to her now, nor was it why she was there.

Haruka walked through the lobby, sending a glare at the snooty receptionist who had refused point blank to tell her where Aino Minako's dressing room was. So now she had to search the entire goddamned building to try and find the girl in order to get anything done whatsoever.

As she continued searching, Haruka decided that she was going to have to kill whoever had refused to give her directions to the blonde's rooms. This place was like a bloody maze, it really was. She was certain she'd been searching for about ten minutes by that time but she was getting nowhere: she could have sworn she'd seen that plastic pot-plant over in the corner about a hundred times already.

Haruka sighed and continued down the corridor. Why was she going looking for Minako anyway? There was prpbably going to be a load of crap all over the tabloids in the next few days anyway knowing Minako, but to be honest she would rather have heard the truth straight from the horse's mouth, if indeed that was possible. She just hoped the ditzy idol still had an idea as to what the truth was.

Haruka soon caught a glimpse of familiar blonde hair and shining blue eyes, but it didn't take long for her to realise that the girl in question wasn't Minako but some clone of hers, as was common in the music industry then. She would have quickly passed on and continued lookiing for the real Minako had it not been for one thing, or rather person: in the room with the girl was none other than Chiba Mamoru. It wasn't really surprisiing to see him there; she had known Mamoru for years and he had always worked in the music industry. However she had known Mamoru for far too long not to realise that he was always up to something, and whatever it was it was bound to have neagtive implications in one way or another. She leant against the wall, hiding herself away from their sight, and preceded to listen in on the conversation Mamoru was having with this girl.

"I still don't see why you have to get rid of her so people will notice me." The girl had an irritatingly naïve sound to her voice, and the way she was twirling her hair round and round and staring vacantly into space gave Haruka the impression that she was dumb enough to make even Minako seem like a genius.

"Usagi-chan, Minako has reached the end of her career as far as I'm concerned; people may like her and it may be benificial to the company, but people will soon start losing interest. And to be honest, she's not conforming to the image we want. You're much better for that purpose, Usagi; you're fresh meat, and besides, you're cute."

The small girl blushed and Haruka faught the urge to vomit. The next time she saw this guy and she wasn't spying on hiss conversations, she was going to do exactly the same to him as she had to Seiya; a nice shiner would look brilliant on dear old Mamoru after all, wouldn't it? Mamoru continued.

"Also note that you two look alike, even though you don't dress or sound alike. Most people would wrongly assume that you're just a clone of Minako, but you're not. You're not at all, and we just need to get her out of the picutre. Her time's up, yours is just about to start."

Usagi once again blushed and Haruka once again faught the urge to throw up.

"But what exactly are you doing to her anyway?" Usagi asked. "I hope you don't hurt her; I like Minako."

Mamoru smirked and Haruka felt the urge to wipe the look off his face in the most paiinful way possible.

"All I can tell you is that it involves Ten'oh Haruka; the rest is strictly private information, I'm afraid."

To say that Haruka was completely infuriated would have been an understatement. She would just have stormed straight in there and decked the bastard, but instead she decided to listen in further in order to see if there was anything else Mamoru was up to.

"Please Mamo-kun, tell me what you're going to do!" Usagi whined, reminding Haruka of a nice yet somewhat stubborn five-year-old. "You can trust me, you know you can. I love you and you love me so you must trust me enough to tell me this teeny little secret, right?"

The look on Mamoru's face turned into one Haruka knew well. The bastard; he didn't love her, he was just using her, just like he used everyone else he ever came near. Haruka just wanted to tell that girl to stop being so naïve, that Mamoru was a bastard, a cheat, a liar and a player, and that it was almost certain he was just using her for some reason or another. However she couldn't, could she, so she just settled for continuing to listen.

"You know me, Mamo-kun. You know I can keep a secret," Usagi pleaded with the man, widening her eyes in a way that would make even a puppy's cuteness pale in comparison.

"Well I suppose you can, but you can't say anything about this to anyone," Mamoru replied. He lowered his voice, though Haruka could still just about hear him, and when she did her anger only grew. "We're getting Minako to seduce Ten'oh Haruka. It will ruin her; ruin them both."

"But what's Ten'oh Haruka ever done to you?" Usagi asked.

"Now that I really can't tell you," Mamaoru laughed.

Haruka felt sick. This was low even for Mamoru, and to believe that Minako would even indadvertenly help with something like that. She had to find the other girl quickly and at least try to get somewhere closer to the truth behind the whole affair.

It had become apparent to her that she wasn't going to find Minako there, even though she knew for a fact that the girl was in work. She decided to take a different approach and sped out of the building – and away from Mamoru as fast as she possibley could.

As soon as she was outside, Haruka was wondering what she should do. It was then that she saw a familiar figure sitting on one of the stone benches in front of the building. At first she wasn't sure, but then Haruka saw the red bow in the girl's hair. That confirmed it; she had finally found Aino Minako.

* * *

Aino Minako was once again lamenting the fact that she despised meetings. She should have been in one then and she knew that her manager was probably running around looking for her, but to be honest she didn't care. She had too much on her mind to have been able to concentrate on a meeting anyway. Since the whole deal with Haruka a few days before she hadn't been able to concentrate on anything. She just hoped the other girl didn't find out part of the reeason she was doing it; if she did then Minako was in deep trouble and things would just get even worse than they already were, and she really didn't want that, if it was possible at all.

She sat down on a bench outside the building where she worked and put her head in her hands. No one would bother her here, and she was certain her manager wouldn't look for her there; it was just too obvious. The best way to spite someone is to hide whatever it is that they're looking for right in front of their nose… or something like that. She could never remember proverbs, not that it mattered much. If anything it just added to the illusion of completely stupidity that people seemed to love.

She heard footsteps behind her and looked up, and when she saw who was behind her she was certain whatever fates there were had both blessed and cursed her in that moment, for Haruka was standing behind her, but the look on her face was one of nothing less than sheer fury.

Under normal circumstances Minako would have once again resumed her ditzy act and pretended to be completely oblivious to how angry Haruka was, but these weren't normal circumstances, and for some reason it was just almost impossible for her to be fake around Haruka.

"What the Hell do you think you've been doing?!" Haruka's outburst caught Minako off-guard. Well she'd expected the other girl to be a bit angry, but not this much. Did that mean she'd found out exactly what Minako had been hoping she wouldn't realise?

"If you'd honestly follow through with anything Chiba Mamoru suggested than you're even more of a ditz than I thought."

Minako felt a stinging in her chest; she felt physically sick; how did Haruka know? Gods why had she followed Mamoru's plan; why hadn't she had the guts to tell Haruka how she felt anyway? The situation had gone from bad to much, much worse: about as bad as it could get. Well she only had one choice, she supposed; she had to deny it.

"I don't know what you're talking about, 'Ruka-kun," Minako forced herself to put on her usual act, though she had the feeling that Haruka could see right through it.

"Don't try this act with me; I can see right through it," Haruka hissed, the venom in her words making Minako have to supress tears. So Haruka did know… and she hated her for it. At least that's what it seemed like to Minako. "I know about the plan you and Mamoru came up with, I know what you're trying to do. Look, if you haven't realised this already, Chiba's a complete bastard: he'll never do what he promised to do, so just stop this stupidity now!"

"I honestly don't know what you're talking about," Minako lied. "Where did you get this idea from anyway?"

"I'm not lying!" Minako shrieked, raising her voice a little louder then she had intended. "I'm not lying…"

The girl was crying again, Haruka noticed, but were those actual tears or just another part of the sick act she was pulling?

Haruka was shocked when Minako kissed her gentley.

"If I was lying, would I have done that?" Minako whispered, then she ran off before Haruka had a chance to register what had happened.  
Little did Haruka know that Minako really was lying, and not only to Haruka but also to herself.


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter five

It was rare for Tomoe Hotaru to have a night of peace and quiet to herself, and that was why she valued them so much. Curling up with a good novel was just something that most people took for granted, but not Hotaru, and that was why she was so pleased to have some time to herself for the first time in months.

That was also part of why she was so irritated when her phone went off just as she was getting into her book. Most of the time Hotaru would have ignored it, but there was just something that was bugging her, telling her that she had to answer, and when she did she knew that the situation at hand was more important then her getting some time to herself.

The one who had called was none other than Aino Minako, who was probably Hotaru's closest friend, however unlikely that may have seemed to the public; after all the two were about as different as two girls could possibly get. But friends they were, and that was why Hotaru became extremely concerned when she realised that Minako was crying.

"What's wrong, Minako?" Hotaru asked, frowning as she thought about what could have caused the girl to fall into a state like this. She would have bet her last yen that it had something to do with Ten'oh Haruka; Minako had never been like this at all until Haruka arrived on the scene; she never got anywhere near this bad when she was with Yaten or anyone else, Hotaru mused, so it had to be something to do with Haruka.

"I can't tell you over here," Minako said eventually. "Would it be okay if I came round to yours or you came to mine? I just really need to talk to someone right now."

Had it been anyone else then Hotaru would have sighed and mourned the loss of her rare night of peace, but this was Minako, and Minako was far more important than any peace and quiet, romance novel or no.

"I'll be right over now," Hotaru replied. The phone went dead and Hotaru hurried out of her house. She had to get to Minako quickly when she was in this sort of mood; the blonde may have appeared cheerful and stable on the outside, but when she got like that then there was no telling what she'd do.

It didn't take too long for Hotaru to arrive at Minako's, and when she got there the other girl answered the door immedeately. Hotaru was understandabley startled by Minako's appearance; she looked so tired and worn it was hard to believe she was the same old Minako.

Minako pulled Hotaru inside and locked the door behind her then the two girls retreated to Minako's sitting room, like they always did whenever Hotaru came there. Hotaru was surprised to find the place in a state of utter disarry; something was most definitely wrong. Even though Minako was a domestic disaster her place always looked fine, but not then.

Hotaru cleared some magazines from one of the chairs and put them on the floor. Minako on the other hand collapsed onto a chair without even seeming to realise what mess was around her. The blonde covered her face with her hands and promptly started crying again, startling the other girl.

"I'm an idiot," she whispered, her words catching Hotaru by surprise; she hadn't expected her to say anything so soon, especially not considering the state she was in. "I'm a complete and utter idiot; I should never have done it."

"If you mean telling Haruka you like her then I fail to see why you shouldn't have," Hotaru replied.

Minako didn't appear to have heard her, "I never should have gone through with it; I never should have listened to him."

"Him?" Hotaru raised an eyebrow. Minako knew fullwell that Haruka was a girl, and she doubted that she would have moved onto another person so quickly, no matter what the media tried to paint Minako as.

"You were right, 'Taru-chan; he really is a complete bastard," Minako cried. It was then that realisation sunk in.

"Minako, what's Chiba Mamoru been doing to you?" Hotaru asked, 'And what does Haruka have to do with this, if anything at all?' she wondered.

"Please don't judge me for telling you this," Minako whispered, sitting up and looking directly at Hotaru for the first time since she had arrived.

"I won't," Hotaru replied, wondering once again what had caused the other girl to fall into such a state.

"It was his idea, this whole affair," when Minako spoke, her voice was barely audible. "I don't know whether to hate him or thank him though; I'd never have got the courage to go up to Haruka and tell her otherwise. But it's just turning into a game, a sick, twisted game, and I don't know what to do anymore. I love her, I really do, but all I seem to be doing now is hurting her and I hate myself for it!"

Hotaru stared at the other girl in shock, realising what this meant, "You were just using her all along."

"It looks like that doesn't it?" Minako sighed, "I wasn't… but I love her… I never meant to do this to her… and Mamoru… he… I… Haruka… this wasn't supposed to happen damnit!" she screamed, slamming her fists into the floor. "Miss groupie supreme, that's what she called me. But I'm not obsessed with her because of the way she looks… I'm obsessed with her because of _her_!"

Hotaru just sat there, shocked. It was completely unlike Minako to get at all like this. She was in such a state that Hotaru would usually feel pity for her… but not now. It was her own fault for believing anything Mamoru told her.

"Minako," Hotaru began, but she saw that the other girl wasn't listening, just wallowing in the misery she'd brought upon herself.

"Minako!" Still no reply. Well there was only one thing to do. Hotaru stood up, grabbed Minako by the shoulder and slapped her. The girl stopped crying instantly, instead looking up at her friend with shock written all over her face.

"Minako," Hotaru sighed, "You have to calm down. Haruka doesn't hate you: and even if she does then it's all that bastard Mamoru's fault for using you. I reckon you just need to talk to her, to clear all this up before you really do ruin your chances."

"You think I still have a chance with her?" Minako whispered, her eyes regaining their old shine.

"You just have to stop wallowing in misery, get out there and do something about it," Hotaru replied.

"But what if she…" Minako began but Hotaru cut her off before she could say anything else.

"No, you _are_ going to see her and explain all of this," Hotaru stated firmly in a tone of voice she very rarely had to use.

"Alright," Minako sighed. "It's my own fault if she hates me anyway."

"For goodness sake Minako, she doesn't hate you," Hotaru snapped, 'And even if she does it's nowhere near as much as I hate Mamoru for forcing you into this.' "Now get some rest; you'll have to be up early to see her, won't you?"

Minako finally nodded, giving in to Hotaru's common sense. After all, what with all that was happening she felt like she honestly didn't have anything more to lose.

* * *

Minako took a deep breath and began to calm her nerves as she stood outside the front foor of Haruka's apartment. She couldn't believe that she'd let Hotaru talk her into this, she really couldn't… but she was there, and she couldn't exactly back out could she? She was in far too deep for that to even be an option now.

She knocked on the door then stood back and waited for Haruka to show up, if indeed she was even in at all. Part of Minako honestly wished the Haruka wasn't in, that she didn't have to face her and explain everything she'd done… but then again, she mused, she had to get this over and done with sooner or later didn't she? She just wished it could have been later rather than sooner.

Minako jumped, startled, when the door finally did open, revealing a rather annoyed looking Ten'oh Haruka.

"Look, if you're here asking about all those rumours then you can get stuffed! I've had to deal with so many paparazzi lately I swear I'm going to hurt someone one of these…" she trailed off, her expression becoming one of even greatr irritation upon having seen that it was

Minako standing there. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?"

"I just wanted to explain…" Minako began, the words barely audible.

"Well you can forget it!" Haruka snapped. "I don't have time to listen to whatever bullshit you're spouting now."

"This isn't a load of lies this time, okay?! I came to tell you the truth, just the goddamn _truth_, but if you don't want to listen then _fine_!" Minako found herself yelling. She didn't care how much sense Hotaru's advice had made at the time; she couldn't stand here and tell Haruka anything. It was just too humiliating, no matter that this time she was really telling the truth, just like she should have all along.

She had turned to storm off when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Look, Aino, if you're going to make such a big fuss about it then you should just come inside and tell me. Come on," Haruka grabbed the smaller girl and dragged her inside, feeling momentarily guilty at the look of pure hurt in Minako's eyes.

Shaken, Minako followed Haruka inside and sat down in the living room. It was so impersonal, nothing at all there to indicate that it was someone's home. So distant and impersonal… just like Haruka herself was.

"Now why don't you tell me whatever it was that was so important? What is the truth behind this whole affair?" Haruka asked, leaning closer to Minako, who blushed somewhat and looked away.

"Well you heard everything Chiba Mamoru said, didn't you?" Minako whispered. "The bastard tried to convince me to seduce you, said something about publicity."

"If that's all you want to tell me then you can sod off," Haruka muttered. "The bastard's my uncle, I know exactly how his twisted mind works. Married my mother's sister for her money, but he's never around for her or her daughter; prefers to screw around with girls about our age." At this her expression changed to one of complete disgust.

"He's your uncle?" Minako was completely shocked by this.

"Yeah, now get back to what you were saying, I don't have much time to waste."

Minako sighed and continued, "Well you know I went through with Mamoru's plan. Thing is I really do _like _you, Haruka; all Mamoru's idea did was give me the confidence to go up and speak to you. I may appear really confident but that's just an act, you know it is. I love you, Haruka… _I love you_."

"You know what? I don't have time to listen to this," it was obvious to Minako that Haruka was completely exasperated. "Get out."  
Minako's eyes grew wide with shock; surely she didn't mean it? What had she done

wrong? All she had done was tell the truth, but perhaps the truth had come too late.

"I thought I told you to get out!" the anger in Haruka's voice was now clear.

Minako sighed and stood up, "I'm sorry," she whispered as she left. Shutting the door behind her, she tried not to let the tears fall from her eyes, but fall they did, and this time the tears were real.


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter six

It was not uncommon for Ten'oh Haruka to have to stay in hotels due to business, however that night she was sitting in a hotel room completely of her own accord. Her manager was getting on her nerves, as was the media, so she had just wanted to get away from everyone – and everything that was going on.

It was all that damn Aino Minako's fault, Haruka decided as she stared out of the window. What was with that girl's _attitude_, seriously? One second she was the happiest person on the planet, the next she was crying as though she'd found out she was going to die. Haruka really couldn't figure out with face was her real personality, if indeed either of the two were. And she had the guts to say that she wasn't acting. Like Haruka was going to believe that: all Minako knew how to do was act; idols like Minako didn't know what reality was: in fact they didn't even know what real acting or real music were.

Then there was the dramatics she'd pulled the other day. What a load of rubbsh! She 'loved' her, apparently. Forget music and acting, Minako had no idea what real _love _was, no idea at all. It wasn't at all like the storylines in mangas or dramas, though Minako seemed to have convinced herself that that's exactly what it was like. Gods if that wasn't acting then she didn't know what _was_.

Then again, a small voice at the back of her mind mused, there was just something about the whole situation that screamed that Minako was telling the truth, that this really wasn't entirely acting. There was something strange about the girl, something that said that she could be trusted.

It was then that Haruka remembered that Minako had a press-confrence due for later that day with regards to her new album being released. If nothing else then she'd be able to catch her there and tell her what she thought of this whole affair. Yes, she had to tell Minako exactly what she thought about the entire situation.

Haruka stood up, her mind made up; she was going to go and see Minako.

* * *

Minako sighed and stared at the clock on the wall in front of her, deliberately avoiding the gazes of all the journalists that had packed into the room in order to listen to her speak. This meeting had been going on for about ten minutes longer than planned and she was driving her insane. Almost all the questions so far had been about her recent 'affair' with Haruka, nearly nothing regarding her latest release like it should have been. As soon as this meeting was over, Minako decided, she was going to get herself moved to work under someone that wasn't Chiba Mamoru.

Minako almost jumped as the clapping started, signifying that the torture was finally over. She stood up and left, putting on yet another false smile and blowing kisses at the cameras that were flashing as she did so.

As soon as she was out of sight of the media, Minako breathed a sigh of pure relief. At least that was finally over; now she had the rest of the day to relax a bit… and lament about the entire disaster with Haruka once again.

She had messed up, she had really messed up, and it was no one's fault but her own. She sighed as she pushed open the door to her dressing room, flopping straight down into a chair as soon as she'd closed the door behind her.

"Not very observent, are we?" someone quipped, making Minako start and jump to her feet. Her eyes went wide with shock and she felt like she was going to sink to the floor as soon as she realised who was there. None other than Ten'oh Haruka was resting against the wall behind her with a smirk on her face.

"Haruka!" Minako gasped.

"Me," Haruka nodded, smirking even more.

"How did you get in here?" Minako asked, remembering how many security guards had been gathered outside her room.

"Just played on the rumours that had been going around for a while," Haruka winked at Minako, causing the girl to blush.

"Look, I don't know why you're even here, but while you are I just want to say that I'm really sorry for everything I did. They've been giving me shit about it too, okay, so I understand how frustrating it must be. I'm really, really sorry."

Haruka sighed as the girl continued apologising. She'd heard it all before and by now had decided that Minako really was telling the truth about the whole situation. Mamoru was an astonishingly manipulative git after all. Of course now all she had to do was shut Minako up and make her stop apologising needlessly.

"Minako, I believe you," Haruka said, but she quickly saw that the other girl hadn't noticed and was still apologising over and over again like a broken record. Well desparate times called for desparate measures, Haruka told herself, and so it was that she decided to give in to her impulsive streak, which, admittedly, was about a kilometre wide. Said impulsiveness took the form of leaning over and kissing the small blonde, who by this time had worked herself to the verge of tears once again.

When they broke apart, Haruka noticed that Minako looked as though one of her favourite daydreams had finally come true – little did she know how right she was. The girl smirked upon thinking about her own impulsiveness, causing Minako to go a deeper shade of red than Haruka had previously thought it was possible for a human to go.

"Why did you…?" Minako gasped, her eyes shining with surprise.

"Well I kind of figured you were telling the truth; Mamoru is a manipulative bastard after all, he could probably convince someone to sell him the planet if he tried," Haruka laughed. "And, well I'll cut a long story short now… let's just say I've decided to give you a chance," Haruka replied, pulling Minako closer to her. "You're my little 'Miss Groupie Supreme' after all, and I intend to keep it that way no matter what the media or that bastard Chiba try to do to break us up."


End file.
